Malaysia is a beautiful country blessed with a plethora of cooling desserts which come especially handy during scorching afternoons. One such oasis of cool is Piccoli Lotti in Damansara Kim, a gelato shop strategically located in a quiet neighbourhood. Offering an amazing array of gelato flavours, they also serve coffee, waffles and muffles (we’ll explain more in a bit) which are a hit with their customers.
We speak to Brian Jeevan on how he joined Piccoli Lotti, his journey and what lies in the future for their sweet gelato shop.
1Twenty80: Firstly, when did you join Picolli Lotti and what are your responsibilities?
Brian Jeevan: Picolli Lotti was opened in May 2017 and I came onboard in January 2019. I joined as a co-owner, business partner and director. For me, I’m in charge of the production side of the gelato. My partner, Chong Nge Seng is in charge of the storefront and all but we both are involved when it comes to research and development. We’re both gelato chefs and I trained in Singapore whereas Chong studied in Italy.
1Twenty80: What kind of obstacles are involved when it comes to operating a gelato shop?
Brian: It’s mainly creating good flavours while building our brand and keeping true to the values of the company. There’s also a need for a proper core team because they are the store front and we need to standardise certain aspects such as how gelato is scooped, how to deal with customers and more. It isn’t easy, starting a business from the ground up and no standard operating procedure would be perfect from the get go so we need to keep evolving and changing for the better.
1Twenty80: What pushed you to change from being an engineer to making and selling gelato?
Brian: I spent four years as a practising engineer and the industry I was in dealt with industrial boilers. The company I was with supplied to palm oil industries in the region and that meant that I had to travel a fair bit for work. Down the line, I realised that your value is only what your boss sees and not from your hard work. Additionally, I felt like I had different aspirations compared to my peers because I wanted to build a family. Since I wanted to have a family, I’ll need a home base and at that time, my job didn’t allow that.
So, three months before quitting my job, I decided to enrol in a gelato course to see how it’s done and was inspired immediately. I leaped into doing gelato full time around six months after resigning and have not looked back!
1Twenty80: What makes your gelato different compared to the others?
Brian: Taste-wise, I feel that it’s something that kids and adults can enjoy. Our gelatos are not too sweet nor too creamy; a nice balance. We also have sorbets for customers who cannot have dairy as these are made mainly with fresh fruits. In fact, I believe that because our gelatos are artisanal, we can incorporate more local flavours such as our popular pulut tai tai, inspired by local kuih.
We also pair our gelatos with waffles or muffles, a denser version of a waffle for those who prefer something more substantial.
1Twenty80: Where do you make your gelatos and what makes them such high quality?
Brian: We have a central kitchen to maintain the quality among three of our outlets in Damansara Kim, Melawati Mall and Midvalley Southkey in Johor Bahru. Cold chain transportation is used to ensure that our gelato, from the kitchen to our outlets, are always kept at the right temperature to preserve freshness and integrity.
Our main ingredients to create gelato are from Italy and we only use fresh milk during production. We are also proud to say that there is no artificial colouring or flavouring in any of our products. Each batch of gelato is also made fresh!
1Twenty80: Who inspires you to be the successful person you are today?
Brian: The first would be Daniel Flynn, an Australian who is the founder and managing director of social enterprise, Thank you that commits 100 percent of their profits to ending global poverty. He started off with just a bottle of water and built the company up from there.
Another person I look up to is Anthony Tan, the CEO of Grab. From the early days of MyTeksi, he went to knock on each cab driver’s window to ask them to download the app and also educate them on how to use it.
They both inspire me because of their innovative thinking and creative ways of making things work.
1Twenty80: As an entrepreneur, we’re quite sure you’re very busy. how do you ensure that you have work-life balance?
Brian: Work is important and when things need to get done, of course, we all need to buckle down and do it. I need to thank my wife for keeping that balance and making sure that I spread my time wisely between work, family and church. I used to work on Sundays because I wanted to get ahead of the orders but she grounded me and asked me to set time aside and take one day a week to rest.
After work, I go for Muay Thai, a few doors down and get a good workout to destress and also keep myself fit!
1Twenty80: Words of wisdom to any of our readers who want to become an entrepreneur or chase their dreams?
Brian: You only live once, so make the best out of it. If you think your dream can take you somewhere, try it out. If it doesn’t work out, perhaps take a different approach and try again.
Visit Piccoli Lotti at: 45, Jalan SS20/11, Damansara Kim, 47400, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
www.facebook.com/piccolilotti.my/ (Instagram) @piccolilotti.my
